Torturing Me Slowly
by xxDibDabxx
Summary: AU Bellatrix once loved her husband, but her heart moved on where she didn't. The Dark Lord's power causes lust in the witch, and that breaks Rodolphus. When she choses her master over him, he can't take it anymore. Voldemort/Bellatrix/Rodolphus


**Torturing Me Slowly**

**A dark fic, AU, based on the idea that Rodolphus killed Bellatrix in a marital spat in the final battle of book seven. Inspired by xoxLewrahxox's forum. Enjoy and don't forget to review :D**

* * *

'_I see in your eyes,_

_A love unrequited,_

_The very same love,_

_That shadows my heart,_

_Always and Forever'_

Rodolphus looked at the words that had been carved into the golden band around his ring finger. They were tiny, invisible to the naked eye, but he knew they were there. After all, he was the one who put them there. Latin was the language they were written in, such a beautiful language. Rodolphus held affection for the rich words of the language, adoring the way they blended into each other with such a subtle sharpness. He adored it like he adored majestic works of art and divine food. Something Bellatrix didn't understand.

True, she had the same words the ring on her left hand, but, she had demanded them in English. He remembered the fight they had, their first ever fight. How she hated them being in a language she couldn't understand. She had no hobbies. She didn't adore anything. Apart from him, her master. And her life, which was her profession, which was being the Dark Lord's follower. And the Dark Lord himself.

As time went on, that adoration changed to obsession. Which quickly grew to love. Till, eventually, Rodolphus lost his childhood sweetheart and his best friend to the dark, looming shadow of Lord Voldemort. Bellatrix lusted for his power, for his command and for his heart.

The Dark Lord's heart, however, was to cold and hard to feel any real emotion. To feel the deepness of love. He only felt greed. And anger. And hatred. It had poisoned his mind and that soon leaked to his soul and body, consuming him until all that was left were the raw emotions themselves. He felt himself all powerful. And Rodolphus's wife had been swept up in the storm the merciless monster had become.

He was careful with his thoughts, for in this place, they might not be as private as he would hope for them to be. Sitting around the meeting table for the inner circle of death eaters with Lord Voldemort at the top, announcing one of his royal speeches was hardly a safe environment for Rodolphus, even if his wife was at his side. He wasn't even sure whether she was his enemy or not anymore.

He watched her from the corner of his eye as she sat there, gazing at the Dark Lord with that lust in her eye that shattered Rodolphus. She drank up his every poisonous word, not missing a beat, not even blinking. And that made Rodolphus sick in his stomach. He was alone.

The Dark Lord finished, and rising from his seat, he made to leave the room. The dark haired witch jumped to her feet, preparing to be at her master's heel when she froze, her ears almost pricking up. Death eaters that had begun to spill from the room stopped, all noticed her sudden actions.

The only person to move was Lucius, scoffing. Rodolphus saw the smirk on his face play with his wife's nerves, twisting her up to the point of explosion. She hissed at him in a voice that sent chills through everyone's spine,

"Malfoy, you dare think such things about _me_ when your mind is unshielded" It wasn't a question, but it sent all the onlookers into a mode of excitement, feeling a duel brew before them. The blonde haired man grinned,

"Oh, Bella dear, nothing gets past you". Voice taunting and hands folded on the table, he held no fear for the witch in front of him. And how wrong he was not to. She had been trained in the darkest of magic, spells that would torture a person to an inch of their deaths then bring them back again just to hear her cackle. The Dark Lord himself had taught her.

Other thoughts crossed Lucuis's mind. Of how Bellatrix was a pathetic excuse for a witch and only sucked up to the Dark Lord for his protection. Of how she held such passion for him when he could break her worthless little heart without a second thought. Of how much he pitied her, because Lord Voldemort was a fool for taking her under his wing. He hit a nerve in the witch,

"How _dare_ you think such things about our master! You should have your pointless life ripped from you, you traitorous scum!" she screamed, her wand out in front her so fast no one saw it, "My sister had disgraced our name marrying someone as wretched as _you_!"

Lucius jumped form his seat, also pulling his wand from its place inside his knee-length coat and bellowed,

"Watch your mouth, Bella, or I'll rip your tongue out!" Rodolphus jumped in front of his wife, much to her annoyance, and his wand found its place under Malfoy's chin.

"You are treading on thin ice, Lucius", the blonde-haired man stiffened, his eyes blazing in anger, but he lowered his wand. Rodolphus stepped back, still staring at Lucius and still holding his wand out, "Now go".

With a final hiss and a curl of his lip, Malfoy span around and, with a swish of his coat, he strutted from the room, pushing various people out of the way. With a disappointed sigh, the death eaters began to leak from the room, going about their duties and making preparations. Night would be upon them soon, and in a few hours, Hogwarts would be stolen from the hands of the traitors in the wizarding world, and Harry Potter would be killed.

When it was only the two of them left, Rodolphus dared to turn and face his wife, only to see a different woman. She breathed heavily, pure anger eradiating from her,

"You shouldn't have done that, Rod", was all the witch said, spinning so her back faced her husband, "You made me look weak. Vulnerable. And pathetic. I don't need a knight in shining armour, and if I did, I wouldn't call on you".

Rodolphus was silent a single thought trailing through him. He knew who she would call on. Who she did call on. Who she was truly faithful to.

…………………………………………………..

The two unforgivable words were uttered, unheard over the noise of war. With screaming and shouting, hooves and claws, curses and knives, the symphony of death made it unthinkable to find the person who unleashed the curse, but that didn't matter. It erupted from their wand, like a lightning strike of deep emerald, blinding all those who looked directly at it. Penetrating the end like a spear of energy, it sights were set on him.

The Dark Lord loved war, his eye burning in pleasure and his cold laugh of bliss was the only sound that could truly chill blood. He was duelling three at once, and even they were pathetic against his immense power. But his back was turned. His mind in the duel. His eyes only for those three. And so, he did not see the emerald curse.

It was a cowardly shot, to attack an enemy while their backs were turned. But the person who cast it seemed not to care for dignity or honour. And if it were not for her, then perhaps that curse would have been the Dark Lord's downfall. But she saw it. Bellatrix watched it with a frozen horror.

In a few seconds, she had apparated from the other side of the battlefield and reappeared at her master's side, with the sound of a whip crack. Her hair was sweeping across her face and blood smeared across her cheek. Her dress was torn and her sleeve dripping in some unknown black and thick substance. Her wand was held in front of her, with both hands, almost as if she were praying with it.

The curse would have hit her. She put herself at risk, ready to die for Lord Voldemort for her loyalty and love for him were unrequited. Wordlessly, she cast the spell, watching the invisible force ripple out. Her eyes glanced around her, looking for somewhere to send the spell.

Her eyes fell on him, her husband. Staring at her, his face unreadable, he knew she would do it before she did. Her eyes didn't even apologise to him, they merely acknowledged somewhere to send the curse. And send it she did.

The green spark reflected form her echoing spell, and found a new target. Rodolphus's eyes bulged in fear as it darted for him, and before he could think, his knees gave way and he dropped his head. The spell flew over him and hit an oncoming house elf square in the chest, it falling to the ground, instantly dead.

Looking up, he saw his wife didn't even watch to see if he'd died. And that was when his heart broke. Tears behind his eyes began to swell, but he refused to let her see him cry, instead, he growled in anger. She held no love for him anymore, so why should he love and cherish her? This gold band was just a band anymore, no longer a symbol of their eternal adoration.

Ripping it from his finger, he dropped it on the growling battlefield to be lost through time.

He aimed his curse at her, getting to his feet as he did. As he expected, she deflected it moments before it hit and her accusing eyes pierced him as she followed its path. She seemed to falter when she recognised it to be her husband.

"Rod-" her lips formed the words but he cast another curse at her before she could finish. She ducked to the side as she deflected it, suddenly her confident was wavering. What was he doing?

"You don't love me anymore, Bella!" the man screamed, his words lost, but still heard by the startled witch. Her eyes blazed in fury and annoyance, what the _hell _was he doing? They were in the middle of a war and he was a tantrum because she hurt his _feelings_!

"What are you talking about, Rodolphus, you idiot!" The man began to breathe heavily, her chest falling forward and back as his tense shoulders hunched. His grip tightened on his wand.

"You are in love with _him_, Bells" he announced, raising his wand to his wife that walked slowly towards him, "You aimed that curse at me to protect _him_!"

Bellatrix shook her head in disbelief. This was ridiculous!

"He's our master, Rod! If given the choice, of course I would protect him over you! You are _not_ the Dark Lord! You're just a death eater!" she shrieked, raising her own wand in a defensive position,

"What kind of person are you, Bellatrix? You trick men to fall in love with you and force them to watch you love others, and break their hearts…" his voice broke at various parts, "Where's the woman I married?"

Bellatrix exhaled angrily, looking as if flames should come rolling of her tongue,

"Rod-" she screamed but he shouted over her,

"NO!" in a voice of agony. His eyebrows clenched down over brittle eyes. Now, she would pay.

The duel began between childhood sweet-hearts. Curses were passing between them, filling a tense air of heartbreak and betrayal. Bellatrix was skilled, but Rodolphus was one of the only people who could match her. At first she was determined, her face controlled and concentrating, her husband's curses and jinxes deflected in the flick of a wrist. But Rodolphus was a man with a shattered heart. He didn't care if he died there at that moment; he had no life without Bellatrix. But he would go down fighting.

It was then that the witch began to falter. Her heart was aching for the dusty love she felt for her husband, and she felt almost betrayed. How could he blame her for loving the Dark Lord? She couldn't control who her heart fell for! Panic victimized her system, biting at her heart and blistering her concentration.

Rodolphus was winning. She couldn't do this. She couldn't kill the one she was married to. People fell to the ground dead all around her, their blood pooling at her feet. The darkness was blotting her sight, coming in at all angles. Screams and dying breaths, why were they so loud!

In a desperate attempt for aid, her head snapped to the side as she gazed towards her master for help. She was his most faithful. Would he abandon her?

The Dark Lord wasn't even looking at her. He was busy enjoying the luxury of battle.

With a short exhale, shock hit her system. He did not care. She felt her eyes turn glassy with tears. She was alone.

Rodolphus took her distraction as an opportunity, and the words rushed off his tongue before he could think,

"_Avada Kedavra!_"

The jet of emerald light cut through the air, slicing away the lingering souls of the murdered, and melting the dark atmosphere with its light. It pierced Bellatrix through the heart, giving her long enough to turn her gaze back to her husband as she gasped, her eyes widening in fear of what was to come for her damned soul.

Soundlessly, and almost in slow-motion, she fell backwards. Her arms were spread out in the air, and her legs twisted over each other. Her hair fanned out, like a pillow for herself in midair. Hitting the ground, Bellatrix Lestrange died.

Rodolphus's knees hit the ground first, his face horror stricken at what he had just done. He killed her. Bouncing off the ground, his wand fell. What had he done?

Lord Voldemort felt her agony as it rippled through the air, and he span around, his eyes burning with anger this time. His shoulders high, his arm twisted through the air like a cobra striking as he cast the spell mentally, and for the third time, a jet of emerald energy split the air as it did the task it was born to do. To destroy the traitor.

Rodolphus greeted death like an old friend, embracing the darkness happily. He fell beside his wife, whom was laid across the ground like the form of a dark angel. The partners died only moments after each other, only, love did no longer bond them.


End file.
